


Another

by duckmoles



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 04:38:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14488986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duckmoles/pseuds/duckmoles
Summary: So Nebula and Tony Stark, huh?





	Another

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, I swear the next thing I write will be original. 
> 
> I know there are a half dozen fics out there with this exact premise and plot and character moments. I've read some of them. They're very good. But do I care that I just rehashed what everyone else wrote? (kind of) No.

As they work on the broken remains of the Milano, Nebula offers herself up. Now that Thanos has won, and she is not a casualty, she has little else to lose.

Tony listens quietly as she explains herself, the titan’s plans, and her own.

“I will kill my father,” she says, teeth gritted as she moves a piece of rubble – of the moon, Jesus – off one of the wings.

“Does it matter?” he asks, even though he knows the answer. His voice surprises even himself with its steadiness.

She emits a faint hum of machinery when he walks near enough to her to hear it. “He may have killed half the world, but he is not dead. My sister was not able to deal the final blow. I will.” She sounds resolute as she tosses off the last of the largest rocks.

There are ashes of a boy on Tony’s hands. He opens the door to the spaceship and steps in. There are remains of life on the ship: a t-shirt thrown over a chair, uncleaned weapons stacked near one wall, an old Nintendo Gameboy balancing precariously on a stack of CDs. The place looks well-worn and well-loved.

“You know how to fly this thing?” he asks when Nebula steps in.

Nebula doesn’t reply, looking around the ship in what looks to be disgust. Tony can’t read her; she’s not like Vision, even while his brain desperately tries to grasp a connection between the world he knows and the alien that stands before him, dark blue and whirring and lips thin.

“I do,” she says finally. “We’ll go to my father’s home. He’ll be there, now that his task is completed.”

“No!” Tony shouts. He’s shocked at the force of the statement. He didn’t think he had it still in him. “We’ll go – we’ll go to Earth.”

“Why would we go to Earth?” Nebula asks.

Because he needs – he needs to know. He needs to see. And he can’t stay in space for another goddamn second or he’ll burst. And Peter’s ashes are still on his hands, have dug their way under his nails, and he –

“We can’t do this alone,” he says. “We need a team.”

“We had a team, or something like it, and we still failed,” Nebula growls.

“And it nearly worked!” Tony gasps. “And whatever is left of your crew is there as well. They can help.”

“They’re not mine,” Nebula snaps. Then, “ _If_ there’s anything left.”

Tony can’t say anything, because how can he dispute that? For all he knows, he and Nebula are the only two people in the world. “There will be,” he says – pleads. This is where he is now – begging for his last ounce of hope from the daughter of the one who slaughtered the world.

Nebula stares at him. Her gaze feels weighty, like his heart has been placed on a scale for her to judge and execute. She saw Starlord, Drax, Mantis, Strange disintegrate. She saw Peter Parker die in his arms.

“Fine,” she says. “We’ll go to Earth, gather what’s left, and go to Thanos and kill what’s left of him.” She settles in the captain’s chair.

Tony sits in the chair next to her, silent as the lights lift and ship comes to life. In any other world, any other time, he’d be tearing the ship apart to figure it out, questioning Nebula and doing his best to wring out every single bit of information about her. He’s tired.

“How long will it be?” he asks.

Nebula stares ahead as the ship lifts off. “A day or two if the ship doesn’t fall apart. Maybe more.”

Tony considers this for a moment, licks his lips, does his best not to look at his hands.

“We’ll reach the first warp point,” Nebula says without looking at him. “If they haven’t collapsed, we’ll be able to go through to the closest point to Earth and fly the rest of the way.”

Tony runs his hands over his face, rubbing at his eyes. There’s a headache growing at the base of his skull. “Is that likely?” he asks.

“They run autonomously, but are maintained by people.” Tony can hear the unspoken, _And if those people are dead. . ._

He stands and stretches, feeling his abdomen twinge, still aching at the wound he received from Thanos earlier. “Let’s hope,” he says, lackluster.

Nebula finally turns to look at him. Despite her attempt at an annoyed glare, her eyes betray herself, worn and exhausted. She’s as tired as he is.

They stare at each other until Tony can’t bear it and he has to turn away.

“We will get our revenge,” Nebula says. “Thanos will pay for what he’s done.”

Six years ago, Tony and his team avenged a man who brought them all together. Now, well.

“It will be a long while," Nebula says.

Tony sleeps dreamlessly.


End file.
